And just like that, the EU-Startups Summit has wrapped up for another year! We really enjoyed sharing two days of networking, inspiration and learning with all of you and can’t wait to do it all again next year! About 1,700 attendees came together to connect in Barcelona and the buzz of being back to an in-person event made this year’s Summit all the more special. We had some incredibly insightful talks on our workshop stage, inspiring keynotes on the main stage, and of course – our electrifying Pitch Competition! Thank you so much to everyone who joined us in sunny Barcelona!
This year’s Pitch Competition saw 15 of Europe’s most exciting up-and-coming early-stage startups take to the main stage to battle it out for a prize package worth €125k – and it was one of the most exciting pitch battles we’ve ever seen. We had narrowed down the 15 finalists from a monumental 1,300 applications.
The Prize Package
This year’s prize package was incredible! With a total value of over €125k, it included everything on a young startup’s wishlist to kickstart a skyrocketing future. It included:
- €50k investment proposal by APX
- €36K of Scaleway Cloud Credits as part of their Growth Stage Startup Program
- $10k in Freshworks credits
- €8.5k in mysimpleshow credits
- 1 year of Pipedrive CRM
- 1 year of Outgrow Essentials Plan
- 3 years of EU-Startups Club Membership
- €3k in Vonage credits
- 1 year SEMrush Guru Plan
Pitching on the main stage
The 15 finalists represented different verticals from across Europe’s startup ecosystem – from food tech to fintech to productivity tech and everything in between. We also had representation from across the continent, stretching from Iceland to Estonia and all the way to Greece. The finalists were: Gossik, Beatvest, GreenBytes, LandEx, LEGID App, Autoscriber, Dashero, Omgyno, StreamBee, Erasmus Play, Tryp.com , scudi, VMersive , Megi and Rackle.
During the pitches, it’s fair to say we were all on the edge of our seats and with such hot competition our expert jury surely had a hard time judging the competition – it wasn’t just the Barcelona sun heating things up at this year’s Summit! Our panel of Lina Chong (Target Global), Volker Hirsch (Amadeus Capital Partners), Dr. Aline Vedder (Lakestar) and Henric Hungerhoff (APX) were also able to give lots of valuable advice to all the pitchers.
And the winner is..!
Taking the prestigious title of Pitch Competition Champions: GreenBytes!
Founded in 2020, the Icelandic startup is taking on the food industry, helping retailers simultaneously save money and boost sustainability through a cloud-based solution that is reducing food waste. The female-founded team has developed a web app that breaks down data based on menus, inventory and past experiences, to predict future food consumption. It means that food retailers can get actionable insights into the amount of food they should be ordering and when. Given that there are 240k tonnes of food waste per day in Europe, this team is tapping into a big opportunity to make an impact. According to the founding team, the platform can save a mid-sized restaurant €8,479 per month and 251kg of food waste.
The inspiring team is taking on restaurant food waste by combining cutting edge tech with creativity, communication and out-of-the-box thinking. Founders Renata and Jillian made an incredibly compelling pitch on the day, and given the win-win-win dynamic to their offering, they made for worthy winners of this year’s contest, and we are very excited to see how they grow and scale over the next year. The Pitch Competition this year brought amazing energy to the EU-Startups Summit and was certainly one of the highlights of this year’s event.
EU-Startups CEO and Founder, Thomas Ohr, commented: “I think it’s also interesting to note how many female founders we had pitching this year – it really highlights how the European startup ecosystem is diversifying and becoming more inclusive. Events like the EU-Startups Summit, and our famous pitch competition, give a great stage for these up-and-coming innovators to gain visibility.”
The GreenBytes team will now be able to use their generous prize package to scale the vision to conserve the environment and boost sustainability in hospitality, whilst increasing restauranteur’s profitability and success.
We want to send a huge well done to all the participants of this year’s Pitch Competition – it really was a nail-biting affair. To make it to the final 15 out of over 1,300 applications is itself an incredible achievement.
Think your startup has what it takes? Keep an eye out for our 2023 edition!
Thank you to our sponsors:
Silicon Castles is a Tech Company Builder and Strategic Business Accelerator for technology, intellectual property and licensing businesses, located in Salzburg, Austria. The focus is on European Diamonds: technology startups with a unique business idea, scalable technology and outstanding intellectual property. Silicon Castles also organizes the Startup Executive Academy (SEA), an international Go-to-Market program for founders and executives of early-stage startups, taking place annually since 2017.
Unleashed, by the Purina Accelerator Lab, is the first and only accelerator programme in Europe dedicated exclusively to pet-tech. Their goal is to shape the future of pet care by supporting disruptive pet startups with technologies in advanced nutrition, sustainability, health and digital solutions that enrich the lives of pets and the people who love them. Over the last 2 years, Unleashed had accelerated 12 pet startups, facilitated >350 founders in the Unleashed community and welcomed over 1000 subscribers to the Unleashed pet tech newsletter.
Webex offers industry leading solutions in video conferencing, team collaboration, calling, contact centre and devices, and is trusted by 95% of the Fortune 500. With Webex, businesses can simplify communication, inspire innovation, and empower people to engage with each other anywhere on any device – giving businesses the ultimate edge. Because, when businesses enable employees to bring their best selves to work, everyone wins.
Freshworks is the leader of cloud-based customer and employee software including CRM, livechat, support, marketing automation, ITSM, & HRMS. Products are simple to set up, cost-effective & equipped with powerful automation. Through the Freshworks for Startups program the EU-Startups community can gain access to up to $10k credits on essential tools & products for your Startup. You also get access to Freshworks’ community of VCs, Investors, Mentors, & Customers. Claim your benefits here.
MarketerHire is the fast, easy way to get access to the world’s best marketers. Its recent launch into Europe means you now have on-demand access to our global network of expert, pre-vetted marketers with zero financial risk and full flexibility. Already, the company has over 3,500 customers ranging from early-stage startups to Fortune 500 companies, including: Netflix, AngelList, Plaid, Quip, Skillshare, Udacity and others.
Dassault Systèmes, the 3DEXPERIENCE Company, is a catalyst for human progress. Dassault provides businesses and people with collaborative 3D virtual environments to imagine sustainable innovations. They have worked with hundreds of startups to support their dreams and help them scale up and launch innovative and disruptive products onto the global market. Fundamentally, Dassault Systemes believes that the only progress is human, and startups are pivotal to driving it forward.
SafetyWing is building the first global safety net for remote companies, remote workers and nomads worldwide. Their products are built and designed by a fully remote team of nomads distributed across three continents. Remote Health by SafetyWing is a global health insurance that covers your employees and contractors worldwide under one simple plan.
ACCIÓ – Catalonia Trade & Investment is the Catalan Government’s agency that works to attract foreign investment to Catalonia, promoting the region as attractive, innovative and competitive business location for startups. Check out their offerings and the Catalonia Startup Directory.
